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Here’s why Fox and NBC execs both desperately lobbied the NFL to have the Cowboys-Washington Redskins season finale on their networks. They understand the television drawing power of the Cowboys, particularly in NFC East games. And most certainly in playoff-deciding games.

The final numbers were released Thursday, and Redskins 28, Cowboys 18 was the most-watched game of the 2012 regular season.

The Sunday night game drew 30.3 million viewers for NBC. That dropped the 28.7 million who watched the same teams play on CBS on Thanksgiving Day to No. 2 for the season.

By the way, 30.3 million was the most to tune into a regular-season NFL game since the host Cowboys defeated the Green Bay Packers, 21-6, in November 1996 on ABC’s Monday Night Football. That drew 31.5 million viewers.

In addition to NBC and CBS, Cowboys games in 2012 attracted the highest viewership on Fox and ESPN as well. They did not play on NFL Network.

DMN.com

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"It definitely stings when you lose a game like this," Romo said. "We had to fight like heck to get in this position. All you can think about is what you didn’t accomplish right now. That is all that is going through my brain. I know at some point we’ll look back and say this team fought hard and didn’t give in in a lot of difficult, difficult situations. I know we were behind in probably every ball game we played, and we had to overcome a lot to put ourselves in this position when other teams couldn’t, so I’m proud of the guys for that. Saying that, obviously it doesn’t feel like that right now. It feels like you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do, and that’s all you think about and feel right now. It just does not feel good, and I feel as though I let our team down. We’ve done such a good job in those last five or 10 minutes to win a lot of games and come back and do that. We were in that position again, and that’s on me and that is a very frustrating and a hard thing to think about just because you want to be in that position, and we have been so much and been successful. It’s just very hard to think about."

After publicly issuing his support of head coach Jason Garrett, you have to wonder if perhaps Jones hasn’t been talking to former head coach Jon Gruden behind the scenes.

Gruden was rumored to be assembling a coaching staff behind the scenes for the last several weeks. On Black Monday, it was reported by CBS Sports that the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach was open to interviewing with NFL teams and had been quietly contacted by clubs in recent weeks. With seven coaching vacancies open and the interviewing process in full swing, Gruden has not been linked to any interviews with any franchises looking for a coach. Why?

On Monday, Pro Football Talk reported that Jerry Jones was seen a few weeks ago in Tampa, Florida. Coincidence? Perhaps. Then again, I reference the CBS report by Mike Freeman that states Gruden has been quietly contacted by clubs over the past few weeks.

The Cowboys were so injury-depleted on the defensive front Sunday night, they were having trouble lining up and recognizing plays, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said.

“We knew what that was going to be – a hard day,” Ryan said. “We still could have done a lot better. Could have gotten our fronts checked. We were having trouble checking our fronts. We’re a banged-up group, guys. Hell, we weren’t on point getting our checks, and you need to be against that team.”

The Cowboys have run out of games. This coincides with them running out of players.

The team did not want to see its playoff chances end with a 28-18 loss to Washington in the final game of the regular season. The Cowboys under head coach Jason Garrett don’t make excuses for losing or injuries. But you have to wonder: If the Cowboys had won, who would have taken the field for them in the first round?

Starting receivers Dez Bryant (back) and Miles Austin (ankle) were unable to finish the Redskins game. When the team’s charter landed in Dallas before dawn Monday, Bryant was escorted off the plane in a wheelchair.

Tony Romo played the majority of the evening with a cracked rib. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware was a shadow of his Pro Bowl self, essentially reduced to chasing defenders with one arm.

1. In 2010, Miles Austin signed a seven-year $57.1 million contract. Austin's deal meant a few things: He moved into an elite level in regards with his contract and was to become the No. 1 receiver on the Cowboys. After signing that deal, Dez Bryant surpassed him as a bigger threat, Austin has had just one 1,000 yard season, 2010, he fell 57 yards short of it in 2012 and his health continues to be a question. He failed to finish the game against Washington on Sunday night because of a high-ankle sprain. He's endured hamstring issues the last two seasons. Austin is scheduled to earn $6.7 million in 2013 and it raises a question: Is Austin earning his money? I doubt if the Cowboys are going to release Austin because no matter how good Bryant is, there is still an unpredictability about him away from the field. Austin is a good player but the team needs more from him considering the money he's making.
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4704247/random-thoughts-is-miles-austin-earning-his-money

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The scheme.

Callahan’s offense was a West-Coast scheme, shorter, timing routes and a different philosophy. The Cowboys’ offense is based on the Don Coryell system and a number tree with a more intermediate and vertical passing game.

Callahan has been with the Cowboys for a season, but clearly he was the coordinator in name only. He was not involved much in the passing game. Despite the title, he was the running game coordinator. He would be in Jason Garrett’s ear with different runs but he wasn’t making suggestions about pass plays.

This isn’t to say Callahan can’t call the plays. It’s that this would not be an offense in which he is completely familiar and the Cowboys are not going to become a West Coast offense.

Garrett said on KRLD-FM 105.3 that he agrees that changes need to be made after a second consecutive 8-8 season.

“The specifics of that I don’t want to get into,” Garrett said. “The 2012 season ended with us being 8-8, so no one knows the importance of making changes more than I do and more than the people who are involved with this football team do. 8-8 is not good enough. It’s not good enough for anybody. We have to make it better and the only way to make it better is by making some changes and there are a lot of personnel changes that are made in 32 NFL cities after every season. That is just part of how this business is done, so we’ll go through that and we want to make sure we make the right ones. And then we have to evaluate what we’re doing on offense, defense and in the kicking game and make the necessary changes there.”

__________________________

Part of Garrett’s process in the off-season includes critiquing himself and the job he did in 2012.

“I have to get better, trust me,” Garrett said. “One of the first things out of my mouth in our team meeting on Monday was collective responsibility, starting with me, the head football coach.”

Whether true or not... I think the Gruden rumors are a good thing. At a very minimum, it lights a fire under Garrett and staff.

Maybe Slam. Garrett has a Jerry type of arrogance about him. I'm not so sure that Garrett will critique himself very hard. Like I said in another thread...he thinks he's a genius._________________A circle. The direction the Cowboys continue to travel.

Just remember, no head coach who has ever won the Super Bowl, has ever won it again with a new team, in the history of the NFL!_________________"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways" - John Wayne

I'd rather just move on from Gruden. I don't toattly dislike him but I do think he's a bit over rated. Didn't he inherate Dungys team?_________________I'm a Dallas Fan.
Always smell it first....trust me

Just remember, no head coach who has ever won the Super Bowl, has ever won it again with a new team, in the history of the NFL!

that is one of those silly stats that I think people take to seriously. there is no reason why a coach cant win a superbowl on another team. heck, if the refs didn't suck, Holmgren would have done it._________________

Just remember, no head coach who has ever won the Super Bowl, has ever won it again with a new team, in the history of the NFL!

that is one of those silly stats that I think people take to seriously. there is no reason why a coach cant win a superbowl on another team. heck, if the refs didn't suck, Holmgren would have done it.

Guys, we may want to bookmark this page. Matt's actually said something that is true.

Emoticons are wonderful.

In all seriousness, it's kind of a stupid stat. Many SB winning coaches never coach for another team or if they do, the circumstances are very different. Holmgren is a great example. Shanahan could compete for a SB in the next 5 years. BP got the patriots to the SB and almost the he's as well.